Join us as we take visitors on a .75-mile walking civil and equal rights history tour in Downtown Portsmouth, Ohio! Patrons in groups of no more than ten (10) will leave the Tracy Park at the conclusion for the Emancipation Day celebration (starts at 5:30pm and features keynote speaker and former NL batting title winner, Al Oliver) and proceed south on Chillicothe Street where they will meet various historical speakers including Al Oliver, (playing the role of himself) and:

1. James Ashley (1824-1896), Congressman, abolitionist, and Underground Railroad operator, cofounded the Portsmouth Democratic Enquirer newspaper and authored the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery.

2. Betsy Mix Cowles (1810-1876), Portsmouth school teacher, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist, served as the president of Ohio first Woman's Rights Convention in 1850.

3. George W. Farley (1849-1940), Abolitionist, Underground Railroad worker, and volunteer with the 44th Regiment of US Colored Troops, who became Portsmouth’s last surviving Union veteran of the Civil War.


4. Wells A. Hutchins (1818 - 1895), Attorney and Congressman (serving 1863-1865), crossed party lines to cast deciding vote in favor of the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery throughout the USA.


5. Milton Kennedy (1811-1896), abolitionist, Underground Railroad operator, and Boneyfiddle grain merchant.

6. John J. Minor (1828-1896), Boneyfiddle barber, Masonic leader, and Underground Railroad operator, chosen the first Worshipful Master of Portsmouth’s Trinity Lodge, No. 9. in 1871.

7. Amanda Pursell (1821-1895), organized Ohio’s first Civil War Soldiers Aid Society and planned the nation’s first Memorial Day services at Portsmouth’s Greenlawn Cemetery in May 1862.

Abraham Lincoln will also be on hand for the event.

This event will occur rain-or-shine.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, participants will be required to wear masks to protect themselves and the actors.

The walk is also 3/4 of a mile, starting at Tracy Park and ending in Market Square, where a shuttle will provide participants rides back to Tracy Park and is expected to take anywhere from 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Photo opportunities are also available with the actors, new banners and wall art.

Proceeds will benefit the Portsmouth Unity Art Project.